Abandoned Phone Jack?


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Old 12-29-16, 11:45 AM
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Abandoned Phone Jack?

Name:  PhoneJack.jpg
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I'm not sure what this is but think it's an abandoned phone jack. That hole in the front goes all the way through, which seems bizzare. The white wire is just dangling from the wall. I want to cap each wire, shove them in the hole and cover it. Any comments or suggestions?
I can easily cut the power, but phone jacks have their own power. It's probably off as their is no active service and probably too low a volt/wattage to have much concern...or am I wrong?Name:  Phone2.jpg
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Old 12-29-16, 01:08 PM
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It doesn't look like any phone jack that I've ever seen.
It is possibly an old speaker jack?
 
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Old 12-29-16, 01:10 PM
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That is a phone connection point but not a jack. The cord from the phone would be sent into the hole and the wires would be attached on the backside.

That connection style was used before the four pin jack became popular.

You can remove the wires from the point, tape them good and push it into the wall.
 
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Old 12-29-16, 02:31 PM
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and probably too low a volt/wattage to have much concern...or am I wrong?
My understanding is a phone line can shock you if ringing, maybe someone can confirm.

I take the phone off the hook until you lose dial tone, that keeps the phone from ringing until repairs are made.
 
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Old 12-29-16, 03:13 PM
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If that's from an abandoned landline, I would make sure the landline feed from the outside is disconnected.
 
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Old 12-29-16, 11:19 PM
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Great answer. I did just that. Now I need to find a round cover that fits so I don't have to repair the drywall.
 
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Old 12-29-16, 11:46 PM
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Agree with PJmax. Looks like a 47F or 47E Block (shown below with a "old-work" bracket). The 47E provided 12 connections while the 47F provided only 4. The 47 series blocks was a in-wall version of the ubiquitous 42A block. The 47 series could also be used with standard electrical boxes and nail-on prewire brackets.
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Cover is a P-88C9XX series (Bell number) and was designed to mount to a bracket; not a standard electrical box. There is a single round-hole electrical outlet cover that may work, but the Bell System was not known for using anything standard. Covers similar to the one pictured below should be readily available.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]75004[/ATTACH]
 
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Old 12-30-16, 12:06 AM
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Brian, heck yeah you get a voltage when it rings. 75-90 VAC is normal. It rides on the -48 VDC that's there when the phone is idle. I imagine that powers the dial tone and lighted buttons.
 
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Old 12-31-16, 04:53 PM
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Since it's low voltage, I agree, you just need to tape the wires separately and shove them back into the wall. If you don't want to patch the drywall, you can simply screw a blank cover plate over it.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]75098[/ATTACH]
 
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